St. Maarten Shore Exc: Including Maho Beach And Island Tour?

I'd love some advice here!

We are on Independence in June and have St Maarten as a stop. I would LOOOOOVE to stop at Maho Beach for a while to watch the planes coming in (serious aviation geek here ... my partner not so much) ..

But rather than spending the whole day sniffing the jet fuel, I would still love to see the island too, as its a first for us.

I can't really tell from the RC shore excursions listed for our cruise if there are any like this that will include a stay at Maho.

Any ideas of whats a good way to get all this in during our stop there? An outside tour?

Thanks folks!

I'd love some advice here!

 

We are on Independence in June and have St Maarten as a stop. I would LOOOOOVE to stop at Maho Beach for a while to watch the planes coming in (serious aviation geek here ... my partner not so much) ..

 

But rather than spending the whole day sniffing the jet fuel, I would still love to see the island too, as its a first for us.

 

I can't really tell from the RC shore excursions listed for our cruise if there are any like this that will include a stay at Maho.

 

Any ideas of whats a good way to get all this in during our stop there? An outside tour?

Thanks folks!

Check out Bernard's Tours. Highly recommended.

I booked an outside tour with Bernard's. I'll let you know how it works out. I sail in a few days. Maho is included as a stop along the tour.

We also recommend Bernard's Tours, excellent

We used Bernard's Tours last summer and also highly recommend him. We also went to Orient Beach and Marigot. You might also check the Ports of Call portion of the boards. Go to Caribbean and St.Martin and there are several threads there about Bernard's

Just getting back from a Bernard's tour on the 4/4 sailing of the Oasis.

Fantastic! We did tour #2 and it was a complete tour of the island, along w. a 2 hour stop at Orient Bay, some quick shopping downtown and about and hour and a half at Maho. Perfect!

If you like snorkeling and boats check out Robinsons tours.

http://www.boat-charter-stmartin.com/

A couple of snorkelling stops, some beach time and ending the day on the boat at Maho beach watching the planes.

St. Martin is one of our favorite places. We’ve been there many times on cruises, and also spent a week there in the Maho Beach area.

My suggestion is to check the major airlines (especially KLM) for their flights into St. Martin on the day you will be there. Then, if you can book a tour through Bernard’s that coincides with the landing of the jumbo jets (737, 747, etc), go for it!

We were there in February. We took a cab (shared with other people from the ship) to Maho Beach, and watched a KLM 747 land…awesome! We went to the Sunset Bar & Grill which is located at the end of the runway.

We have just got off the ship and used a taxi/tour driver to give us a tour with a stop at Maho beach can't remember how long we stayed there. We will be there next week and probably do something similar as this will be our SIL first time.

Bernard's hands down the best excursion we have had in the Caribbean. Mailman was a great guide. Tour stop was about hour to hour in half at Maho. KLM didn't have their 747 land that day, but Air France had an Airbus 320 land. Awesome tour of the rest of the island also, plus tasty adult beverages included in tour price.

We are currently on Quantum 's 4/12 sailing and used Bernard's tours last week (tour 2). Had Mailman as our tour guide and we all had a great time, will be booking them again in October. They are highly rated on Trip Advisor.

Tour included;

Island tour

Orient Beach

Marigot--along with Sarafina's (French bakery)

Maho Beach

Cooler full of water, Beer, soda & rum punch, all included in price.

We just came off of a cruise and also used Bernards Tours. This was our second time using them. We also highly recommend them and would use them again next time we visit St. Maarten.

Enjoy !!!

Also used Bernard's tours last summer, went to Orient, Marigot and finished the day at Maho, it was an awesome day!

Another vote for Bernard Tours! He has just what you said you are looking for. There are pictures and review of the tour in my Serenade review below! :cool:

Bernard's Tour was awesome. The best excursion we have done!

We used Bernards in December. The tour was great, only bad thing was we stopped at Orient Beach for like 10 minutes. The beach was covered with seaweed and we didn't stay. Not their fault obviously. I wish we would have had more time at Maho. Going back next April, plan on taking a cab and staying all day.

Another vote for Bernard's.. One of the absolute best tours we've ever done while cruising! :)

Bernard's also provide free beer, rum punch and water for the entire tour! The rum punches were great so I was feeling nice by the end of the tour! :cool:

How could you use anyone else but Bernard's Tours. The best tour I ever took of an island.

There is a ships excursion that is high speed boat, snorkeling tour. Very small maybe 20-30 people if that. They will stop by Maho beach at the end. We've done it twice and enjoyed it each time.

If you like speed and getting soaked. On St. Thomas you must do the Screaming Eagle....

Check out Bernard's Tours. Highly recommended.

Let my add an IMO on Bernards. First of all, well run, great value. That said, the public tour seems to be shifting (2013 observation) to contrived tourist spots and spending less time at the other public places. That said, a group, possibly your roll call, can do an affordable private tour and you select the itinerary. The people there know the airline schedules and know the best times to be there.

First of all, well run, great value. That said, the public tour seems to be shifting (2013 observation) to contrived tourist spots and spending less time at the other public places. That said, a group, possibly your roll call, can do an affordable private tour and you select the itinerary. The people there know the airline schedules and know the best times to be there.

I second the recommendation for a private tour with Bernard's. You will have the ability to customize the length of time you stay in each location. We wanted to spend more time in Maho Beach--less time in Marigot shopping. Some of the other "tourist" spots they include in their standard tour (sea urchin and iguana viewing) were quick 5 minute stops for us, because we just said we were ready to move on. Their standard tour would have you there for about a half hour....

Just getting back from a Bernard's tour on the 4/4 sailing of the Oasis.

Fantastic! We did tour #2 and it was a complete tour of the island, along w. a 2 hour stop at Orient Bay, some quick shopping downtown and about and hour and a half at Maho. Perfect!

Was the nasty seaweed gone from Orient?

We will be there in June and I want to be able to get back on the beach.

Bernard's Tours sounds nice. What are the price ranges PP. Do you need to book ahead of time? Thanks

Bernard's Tours sounds nice. What are the price ranges PP. Do you need to book ahead of time? Thanks

http://www.bernardstours.com/index.html